Puerto Rico’s Growing Cruise Industry Causes 15% Spike in Visitors

The Puerto Rico government is expanding its pier to attract more cruise visits and passengers, but the growth might be at the risk of ruining the capital’s historic district and its Caribbean skyline.

— Samantha Shankman

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The number of cruise ship passengers who visited the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has jumped more than 15 percent in nearly one year.

Port Authority Director Victor Suarez says an additional 124,619 people visited the island in the past nine months compared to the same period in the previous year.

Suarez said Wednesday that more than 946,000 passengers visited from July 2013 to March 2014.

He attributed the increase in part to 28 new cruise ship visits during that period for a total of 367 visits.

The announcement comes as Puerto Rico prepares for the first visit of Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, capable of carrying more than 6,000 passengers. The government is expanding a pier in historic Old San Juan to accommodate ships of that size.

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